When Your Eyes Met Mine
by demitruli
Summary: [AU, series of OS] "He suddenly turned his head and looked right at her, light ocean eyes staring into her own with an intensity so foreign but yet so oddly familiar at the same time." A series of oneshots with different scenarios of Japril meeting for the first time. All based on true stories. To be continued.
1. Train

**1\. Train**

She heard him before she saw him. Or rather, she heard his laughter. That warm and hearty laughter that stood up from the monotonous noise of the train's passengers' conversations. She didn't even think about turning her head towards him, it just happened. And when her eyes fell on his figure, she reacted with a loud gulp.

Man, he was _hot_.

He was alone, leaning against the back wall of the wagon, earphones plugged to his ears as he was apparently in the middle of a phone call. His skin was the color of milk caramel, and looked just as delicious. His chest was large and muscular –not too much, but enough for her to be able to tell from above his t-shirt. She didn't quite know how to explain it but is was as if a layer of freshness was covering his form, and she was suddenly sure that he would smell like mint. Her eyes drifted over his exposed neck and hands. And, oh, how she wished she could run her fingers over those arms of his. She shivered.

Well, obviously she couldn't go over there and just introduce herself. No way in hell.

There was only one thing she could do. She could take a picture to show her best friend.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and held it up in front of her face, trying to look like she was texting. She felt lucky now that nobody was sitting next to or in front of her, as the view of him was crystal clear. As soon as she opened the camera app, though, and held her finger over the button, he suddenly turned his head and looked right into the camera, light ocean eyes staring into hers with an intensity so foreign but also so oddly familiar at the same time.

 _Crap. He caught me_ , she thought, her eyes widening. But just as she was about to pull her phone down and act like nothing happened, his lips twisted upwards, turning into a lovely smile.

Before she had time to think about it, her finger touched the screen, snapping a picture.

She quickly lowered her hands, holding her phone tight against her chest and looked out the window, pretending there was suddenly something mesmerizing about the scenery that she had failed to notice before. A long while went by with her not daring to even glance towards his direction, when a female voice from the speaker announced the next stop was closing. With the corner of her eye she thought she sensed some movement from where he was standing, but she didn't dare turn her head to check.

That was, until she felt someone tapping on her shoulder. Her entire body tensed and she didn't even have to look to know who was standing beside her. The scent of freshness and mint gave him away. Damn, she was right.

She slowly turned around, only to stop breathing all at once. He was standing so close. Too close. The ocean of his eyes was only mere inches away, warm air brushing against her face as it escaped his slightly husking, grinning lips.

She took a sharp breath. This was too much.

His grin got even wider and he moved an inch even closer, and she felt the breath she had just taken hitching in her throat.

 _God, make me not start coughing on his mouth._

She watched speechless as he raised his hand, bringing it closer and closer to her body until it suddenly stopped, a mere inch away from her chest.

He pursed his lips, a smile in his eyes. "May I?" he mumbled, his voice dripping honey.

She blinked. "Uh… what?"

He cleared his throat, his expression amused. "The phone?" he pointed out, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh! Right." She exclaimed, quickly handing it to him. _Of course he wouldn't let you keep his picture, you dumbass._ "I, uh… I'm really sorry, I don't know what c-came over me, I…" she stammered like an idiot and then shut her mouth in dismay. _Stupid!_

He licked his lips and took the phone from her hand, his own slightly brushing against it. At the contact she felt her skin grow hot, as if it was on fire.

She watched his long, elegant fingers tapping against the screen with grace, a smile playing on his lips. Once he finished he handed it back, but when she wrapped her fingers around it he didn't let go.

She looked up at him with wonder in her eyes, but he just flashed her another crooked smile of his. "I'm Jackson."

She gulped. "Uh, A-April." She stammered again. _Ugh! What is your problem!_ "My name is April" she quickly rephrased.

"April…" he mumbled, and she felt a series of shivers coming down her spine at the sound of her name from his lips. "That's a very nice name you got there." He added.

She blinked, not expecting the compliment, and felt her cheeks grow hot at once.

His grin got even wider. "Well." He exclaimed finally taking a step back and begging to walk towards the door that had just now opened. "See you around, April." He quickly said and winked at her before walking out the door and disappearing through the crowd.

She just stood there for a minute, her mouth husking wide open, her breaths coming out huskily. A long while passed before she finally recovered, and shaking her head at herself she laid back on her seat, pulling out her headphones to listen to some music. Once she opened the phone, though, she wasn't met with the familiar view of her background image or even the gallery app, considering he had supposingly just deleted his picture.

Instead, she found herself staring at a brand new contact she had never seen before. On the top left was a small square with his picture in it, the sight of his bright eyes and gorgeous smile having warmth crawl up her chest. It was only then when she noticed a cell phone number was also submitted, though, and right on top of it -instead of a name- stood too simple words that made her heart beat impossibly faster.

 _Call me._


	2. Pizza

**2\. Pizza**

"Yes mom, I remember. Yeah. No, I didn't make any plans, I told you I remember. Yeah, I know. I _know_ , mom." I said to the phone and rolled my eyes.

I laid back in my chair, raising my legs to rest them on my desk in front of me. Seeing this as a cue, Pickles, my dog –he was a Schnauzer. Or, well, a Miniature Schnauzer, but don't tell him that- immediately jumped on my lap and curled in a little ball, his face turned just enough for him to eye me carefully from the corner or his eyes. I gave him a small smile.

"Yes, mom. Yes, I will. I will, I already told you, I-" I left my sentence unfinished, as she cut me off again. I groaned. "Mom! I said I'll be there, would you drop it already?" I said, my voice raising and Pickles' head shot up in alarm.

I let out sigh. "I know it's important for dad, okay? I'll be there, I promise." I exclaimed in a much calmer demeanor. "I know you do. Yes. Yeah, okay. Alright. Aha. Okay, bye." I mumbled, and quickly added "Love you!" before finally hanging up.

Pickles was stating right at me and with yet another sigh I raised my hand to pet his head.  
"I guess we're going back to Moline for Thanksgiving, buddy." I told him with a small grimace. "With all those annoying redheads you don't like and the big scary cows."

Prickles just blinked at me.

"Well, at least you'll get to chaise around the chickens." I said with a shrug, and at the last word he immediately stood up in alarm, his eyes wide and ears erected.

I giggled. "Not now dummy. At the farm. The only chickens you'll find here are in the fridge. Which reminds me…" I trailed off, narrowing my eyes. I took hold of Pickles and gave him a quick kiss before setting him on the ground so that I could stand up. "Does pizza sound good for dinner?" I asked him. "Sure it does." I replied to myself instead. "And some delicious dry food for my little man. How lucky are you to have me as a mom?"

He gaped at me.

I shook my head. "Okay, well, _now_ I'm definitely not letting you take a single bite of pizza. You brought this on yourself, bud." I muttered while walking to the kitchen cabinet and grabbing the catalog of the pizza place down the corner, the phone in my hand.

One-sided arguments with my dog. Story of my life.

With a sigh I quickly dilated the number. The beeping sound came twice before I heard a male voice echo in my ears.

" _Pepi's Pizza, how can I help you?"_

"Hi. Um, I'd like to order a pizza please." I quickly replied.

" _Of course. Is this for take-out or delivery?"_

"Delivery."

" _Can I have your name and address please?"_ he asked.

"Uh, April Kepner. 715 E Pine Street. It's an apartment. Number 17." I mumbled and waited for him to write it down.

" _Okay."_ He eventually said after a moment. _"And what would you like to order today?"_

"I'd like a pepperoni pizza with mushrooms, olives and extra cheese." I replied, a bit too quickly.

He paused for a second. _"Uh, sorry, could you repeat that? It was kind of…"_

"…fast, yeah, sorry." I grimaced. _Way to suck at even interactions over the goddamn phone, Kepner._ "That's a pepperoni pizza."

" _Yes."_

"With mushrooms, olives and extra cheese." I said slowly –perhaps _too_ slowly- as if explaining something to a child.

To my surprise, I heard him chuckle. _"Alright, I sure caught that one."_ He muttered. _"Would you like something to drink?"_

"No, that's alright. Thank you."

" _Alright then, that'll be 7.50 dollars and should take about thirty minutes, is that okay?"_

I nodded.

" _Uh, miss? Are you there?"_ he asked after a moment, and only then did I realize he couldn't really see me nodding through the phone. _Not how phones work, dumbass._

"Oh, yes, sorry! Sounds perfect, thank you." I patched it up.

"Okay. Great." He exclaimed. "Well, thank you for your order."

"Sure, bye. Love you!" I chirped and then suddenly froze.

Did I just…

No.

No way. There was no freaking way I said that. I rerun my last words in my mind.

 _Sure, bye. Love you!_

 _Love you._

 _Love. You._

I felt my heart skip a beat in my throat, my stomach dropping to my feet.

 _For the love of…_

" _Oh."_ I heard him mumble through the phone. _"I love you too."_

I blinked once. Twice.

 _Oh. My. GOD._

I felt the blood run up to my face in no time, my cheeks flushing into a lively shade of red. My mouth dropped wide open but no sound came out of it.

I didn't know if it was seconds, minutes or hours, but after the most uncomfortable silence of my very existence, he finally spoke again. And the second he did I wished he hadn't.

" _I hope you're not expecting a discount on the pizza just because we confessed our undying love for each other."_

A weird mix of a huff and a sob escaped my throat. "Oh dear God!"

He bursted out laughing.

"Uh, I mean- no! I don't… what? Oh, oh crap, I really didn't… I meant… Crap, crap, crap, I'm so sorry! It just came out, you know, out of habit and I just… I didn't… Oh, _God!_ "

" _Whoa, whoa, calm down!"_ He let out between chuckles.

I buried my head in my free hand and groaned. "This is not happening!"

" _No, wait, don't feel bad, I was just… Look, miss… April, was it?"_

"Yeah." I winced, the pain clear in my voice. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

" _Well"_ , he began, the amusement clear in his own, _"it sure sounds pathetic but this was the most exciting thing that has happened to me all week, so thank you for that."_

I frowned. "Uh… you're welcome, I guess." The uncertainty in my voice made the sentence sound more like a question than a statement.

His chuckle came again, this time softer, and I let out a sigh.

 _Great. Just perfect._

After a moment he cleared his throat. _"Look, uh,_ April _… I have another call coming through so I have to-"_

"Right, yeah, sorry." I blurted out. "Uh… thanks and… _bye_."

" _Bye."_ He said, and I could hear a smile in his voice.

Once the beeping sound finally came, I all but threw the phone on the counter and with large, hurried steps I walked to the couch. I threw my body on it with force, facing it, and buried my head into one of the throw pillows before letting out a long, loud groan.

I was such a dumb, stupid, idiot! How more could I have possibly embarrassed myself? _Love you?_ Seriously, April?

I let out a whimper and I felt a little push on my shoulder. I slightly turned my head to take a peek, and I was met with a pair of big, brown eyes filled with wonder. I sighed and pushed the hair that had fallen on my face behind my ear. "Mommy is a lame-ass idiot, buddy." I murmured.

Pickles stared at me motionless for a moment, before jumping back off the couch and running away.

"Where on earth are you-" I began asking, but he was already back with a fluffy, gray monkey in his mouth. I rolled my eyes. "Pickles, no time for playing, I'm dying of shame here!"

And the monkey was in the air then, landing straight on my face.

 _Perfection._

It was a while after that when I had finally forgotten all about that phone call, and that was when the order finally arrived. With hurried steps I all but run to the door to look through the peephole, and let out a long sigh of relief at the sight of a woman standing there. I knew, of course, that the guy I had spoken to earlier was probably just a phone operator and wouldn't deliver orders too, but still you can never be sure, can you?

Paranoid as always, I quickly received the pizza and gave the woman a quite large tip, hoping we could all just forget what happened and move on, while in knowledge that she probably knew nothing about my exchange with that guy.

But apparently I wasn't going to forget about it anytime soon.

Because there I was a couple of minutes later, sat on the chair with the pizza placed in front of me, breath hitched and heartbeat flying, as I stared at the little handwritten note left on the napkin in my hands.

 ** _Hey April,_**

 ** _This is sort of cheesy but you are one supreme slice. No, I don't usually talk like that.  
I just wanted to thank you for making my day, and also ask you if you want to go out sometime? You know where to find me if you do._**

 ** _Yours truly,  
The guy you confessed your undying love to (aka Jackson)_**

 _ **PS. You sound adorable when you're flustered.** _

Nope. No way I was _ever_ going to forget that phone call


End file.
